On this occasion, it was a fortunate event that the young elf wasn't sleeping on her pillow. There was a slight bulge underneath it which surely would have disturbed her sleep. Annemari slept fitfully, as usual. She shifted, tossed, turned, and murmured constantly, but quietly.

Annemari came awake suddenly, fully, and struggled her way out of the blankets. She gasped for breath and glanced wildly about the room until she regained her bearings. Sinking back into her blankets, Annemari peeked around the room abashedly, hoping no one had sneaked in and noticed her. There was nobody.

The small lump under her pillow caught Annemari's eye and she pounced on it, reaching below to pull out the prize and a small note. The prize was a small, perfectly cut ruby. It glittered in her hands and she turned it over and over, beaming. Setting the gem on her night stand, Annemari turned her attention to the note.

"Dear cute little 'lana (it said), here is a present for your tooth. Keep up the good work!"

She could only make out some of the words, and contented herself by knowing that it was probably a hello note from the tooth fairy. Annemari carefully folded the paper and put it on the night stand.

As soon as she'd dressed, Annemari grabbed the gem and rushed to her parents' room to show them.

Annemarialana peered at herself in her mother's mirror and made a face. A few years had passed since she'd lost her first tooth and she was definitely taller now. Glancing down at her leggings, Anne noticed that they were just a little bit short. Her ankles flashed up at her tauntingly.

"Why can't I stop growing!" the young teen scowled at the image and stomped her foot.

She had felt so uncomfortable around the other elves lately. She was always looking at them and measuring her appearance against theirs. Of course, her appearance always came up short. Or tall, rather. And dark. Only the wild elves tanned as well as she. Lucresa was still the only other elf she'd met with black hair.

She was certain the word "beanpole" was in everyone's hearts and minds, though they dared not speak it aloud. That was small comfort and her ears burned self-consciously whenever she walked along the streets of Shalonesti. Her height matched, and often surpassed, the other adults in the city. However, her youth was still so evident, she couldn't conceal herself as one of them, either. Instead, Annemari did her best to hold her head high and ignore the children who were certainly itching to jeer at her. If she didn't notice them, they couldn't hurt her.

Sighing, Annemari closed her eyes. She opened them after a moment of silence, but her image hadn't changed any. She always hoped though.. always hoped.

Suddenly an old memory came into Annemari's mind. The voice of Lucresa's "spirits" had told her that her hair would always be black, always be ugly….

Something had gone horribly wrong.

Annemarialana had searched Shalonesti high and low for the proper ingredients. In the bookstore she'd found a small textbook from a now-closed beauty school which listed all of the ingredients for hair dyes and the instructions for making them. The things were easy to obtain; most of them being fairly common household cleaning substances. For a few of them, she'd cautiously ventured to Arkane and fled as quickly as possible.

First, the book instructed, she would have to bleach her hair white. Being so dark, a coloring wouldn't take without first turning it white, her ugly black hair overpowered the dying properties of any ingredient known on Algoron. After that was finished, she could turn her hair any color she pleased.

What Annemari hadn't expected was the strange reaction the dyes had to the things she'd used to turn her hair white in the first place. Instead of the pleasant, honey-blond hair that elves were supposed to have, it was a strange, sun-flowery orange color. Some of the color hadn't taken properly so large streaks of her hair was still white. To make matters worse, she'd botched the bleaching job so the roots of her hair were still ever-so-faintly black.

After about ten washings, Annemari gave up. Her hair was stuck this way. She briefly considered trying to re-dye it black, but suspected something even stranger would happen. The last thing she wanted was green or purple hair.

Once her hair dried, another problem presented itself. Overstressed from the chemicals, Annemari's previously soft, wavy hair was dry, brittle, and frizzy. No matter what she did, it insisted on surrounding her head in a mass of orange fuzz. Some of it still hung to about her back, but most of it had broken off at various lengths.

Searching around the house, Annemari found and old kerchief and tied it over her head. After looking in the mirror, she decided it didn't help any and tossed it aside with an unhappy groan. There was no help, she was stuck with it.

Frustrated and helpless, Annemari retreated to her bed and curled up under the covers, crying miserably for herself.

Annemarialana had almost started to believe Mirra when Navik ruined the whole illusion. It wasn't just that he looked at her . . it was the way he did it, with that little smile, that thoughtful look. Annemari just knew he was laughing at her. He was probably feeling sorry for her. She had no doubt that he would offer some bit of unwanted aid or advice if she gave him the time.

Of course, Annemari had no intention of that. She yelled something, she hardly knew what, and stormed out of the room. She didn't stop storming until she reached her garden. There she sat, annoyed, dejected, and grumpy, until Navik followed her.

He was, of course, genuinely confused. He would never have meant the young teen any harm or ill-will. The Senator tried to convey that to the girl, but it wasn't any use. When Annemari wasn't in the mood to listen, no one could get through to her.

After a short while, Navik realized there was no reasoning with her and bid her a good day, leaving to go about his own business. Annemari was mildly sorry to see him go, because she really did like him, most of the time, when she wasn't mad at him. She didn't have much time to dwell on it, as Lucresa wandered in shortly after, looking for kitty.

Still feeling slightly repulsed by the thought of kittens, especially as connected with Lucresa, Annemari didn't feel much like comforting Lucresa. The young witch was obviously in distress and Annemari didn't conceal that she'd seen the cat stagger through, dripping blood. Not feeling very inclined to help it, Annemari hadn't put forth any effort to find it once it disappeared into the brush.

Relating these facts did not at all help Lucresa's state of mind and Annemari instantly regretted it.

"Please don't cry." Annemari begged. The thought of Lucresa crying made her feel sick inside. A dark, heavy sinking feeling filled her, a stark helplessness, that she didn't know how to resolve. When people cried, there was nothing she could do. . .

Annemarialana felt a great deal of relief when Lucresa stopped crying, and brightening, assured herself aloud that kitty would come back; kitty always came back.

Turning her attention abruptly to Annemari's hair, Lucresa seemed to have forgotten about her cat entirely. Eying the mess of orange and white hair critically, she suddenly burst out, saying "What did you do with it??"

Annemari's good feelings were entirely washed away and she scowled. "Nothing. I don't need your help or your pity!"

"Okay," Lucresa whispered, her eyes downcast and her voice muted, submissive. Annemari started to get up but Lucresa stopped her with a quiet, pleading, "wait."

"What?" Annemari stopped, surly.

"Couldn't I just . . . braid it for you?"

"Well . . ." Annemari was still hesitant to trust Lucresa.

"I can do one like the one Elly did for me!" Lucresa exclaimed, encouraged by Annemari's near-agreement.

Annemari stiffened. Jealousy and envy filled her as she examined Lucresa's braid, which the witch was very eager to show off. Elly had braided Lucresa's hair and hadn't even offered anything to her! If Elhaym's friendship was going to be so easily stolen, Annemari was sure she didn't want to be friends with her anyway.

"I don't want a braid like Elhaym's," Annemari grumbled, pronouncing Elhaym's full name for perhaps the first time in her entire life.

"Oh," Lucresa whispered, disappointed. "I can do other kinds . . ."

"Really?" Annemari sat next to Lucresa, genuinely interested. "Like what?"

With this simple exchange, their strange and complicated friendship began. Annemari was eager to be pleased and Lucresa was quick to be pleasing. From Lucresa, the young Shalonost learned the secrets of teen-hood that she had not found in her mother. Annemari's disastrous hair was the first thing Lucresa fixed, but she was not satisfied there. With a strong degree of ingeniousness and a great deal of luck, Lucresa managed to slowly coax Annemari into more suitable clothing and taught her how to apply make-up without making such a mess of things. Amazingly, under Lucresa's constant praise, Annemari even came to terms with her own appearance.

The friendship of Annemarialana and Lucresalana was destined to come to a crashing end. Not surprising, considering their age, at the heart of it all, was a boy . . .

It all began when Annemari was in the library and a boy she didn't know came in to borrow a book. She'd been studying about riding and had, in a moment of inspiration, decided to try some of the techniques. Since it was easier to do it where she could keep referring to the books, Annemari didn't bother to move before she summoned an elemental and charged it from atop her antelope.

Needless to say, the boy, found this a very strange activity for a library . . .

"I've never seen someone use the library for a war room before," He observed mildly after Annemari had managed to ride out of the elemental's reach and dismount.

"Where'd you get this guy?" the boy asked, poking the elemental. Unfortunately for him, it happened to be made of fire and he drew his singed fingers away with a grumble.

"I made it. . ." Annemari started to say, when she noticed him burning himself, asking, "oh! Are you hurt?"

"Nah, I'm alright. Serves me right for poking where I shouldn't." The boy assured her.

Annemari took a cautious step towards him. She knew that he'd been in pain, she could see it in his expression. If there was one thing that could inspire Annemari to act unselfishly, it was the pain of others. She truly did not like to see others suffer; yet, she was cautious, because she didn't know this boy.

"I can heal it. I learned that already." Annemari said.

Noticing Annemari's reluctance to come near him, the boy raised his eyebrow. She was, in his opinion, acting quite strange. "If you want to I guess. It'll really be okay...its just a singe." He told her, dismissing the issue.

Annemari fidgeted. She really did want to make him feel better. "You have to promise not to kiss me while I'm concentrating."

"Try to kiss you?" The boy asked, blinking in confusion. He thought, perhaps, she could be joking.

Annemari nodded, completely serious.

"Who tried to kiss you while you were concentrating before?" He asked.

Annemari grumbled Umke's name.

"You take care of him?"

"I hollered at him and he won't talk to me no more." Annemari answered with a shrug.

"Always nice to meet a girl who can yell at a man." The boy told her with a grin. Annemari giggled in response. "I promise I won't try to kiss you," he added quietly.

Annemari took the last few steps separating herself from the boy and took his hand gently in her own. She closed her eyes and murmured a few words of healing. The burns faded away, taking the pain with them. "All better?" Annemari asked, opening her eyes after she was finished.

"Yes, thank you." He said with a smile, moving his hand slightly in hers. She gave him one of her brightest, most dazzling smiles in return.

"Aldus," he started, "my name is Aldus. I don't think we've been introduced."

Annemari nodded and dropped his hand abruptly, backing away. "I'm Annemarialana," then she added, "but you can call me Annemari, if you want."

Aldus looked confused and taken aback, giving Annemari a second look. "Annemarialana Shalonost?" He said quickly, stumbling over the complexity of her first name and having to repeat it again.

"That's me!" Annemari assured him, smiling again.

Annemarialana studied Aldus while he muttered something about an uncontrollable tongue and regained his composure. He didn't seem threatening like other boys she'd met, and she liked his eyes. They were kindly, calm eyes. It was almost soothing to be in his presence and it made her feel more at ease. His hair, though, was white, making Annemari wonder if he was very old or not.

"I dunno how to heal tongues." Annemari told him, after she remembered he'd been talking and she was staring. She looked down, quickly, after she said it.

"I'll fix it sooner or later." He assured her with a self-depreciating smirk.

"What's wrong with it?" The teen asked with a giggle.

"It has a tendency to say the wrong things. That's how I lost my last girl . . . I don't even remember what I said, now."

Annemari thought it was a bit strange how he talked about his tongue as if it wasn't controlled by him, so she changed the subject, "You had a girl? Did you ever hit her?" She watched him critically and suspiciously, waiting for his answer.

Aldus shook his head in response, then added "though, she tried to hit me with a stick once or twice."

"Oh. Boys sometimes do that." Annemari said with authority, an authority she didn't yet have any right to, as she herself had experienced little violence in her life and none of it directed against her. But she had a fertile imagination and Lucresa had many stories to feed it.

"Do what? Hit girls?" Aldus asked, probably wondering why Annemari was so certain of it. He couldn't imagine what could have happened to a Princess who seemed as sheltered as she.

"I only hit dwarves." He informed her, with a shrug.

"Oh, that's okay." Annemari smiled faintly. Dwarves were, after all, rabid animals.

Aldus offered to put away his staff, if it would make Annemari more comfortable. She shook her head and refused the offer. She didn't feel at all uncomfortable, which was an altogether new sensation to her, and she didn't want to risk anything changing and ruining it. Besides, as she knew, he wouldn't really dare to hit her, not in the library, in the middle of Shalonesti's safest place, where not even a dwarf could harm anybody.

Annemarialana and Aldus's conversation ranged over a variety of topics but the most interesting to Annemari was, by far, his description of the far-off places he'd visited. She'd only read about place in Tropica and Icewall in her geography books and had only once made a very brief visit to the city of Arkane. Annemari watched Aldus intently while he talked, her entire attention for once absorbed in something, and frequently asked questions. After a while, Annemari felt a little hungry and rummaged around in her pack, remembering a box of chocolates her grandfather had given her.

"You even eat like a princess." Aldus said, somewhat amazed, when Annemari pulled the fancy box out of her pack.

"I do?" She giggled.

"I couldn't afford chocolates like that," Aldus confirmed, nodding as he said it.

Remembering her manners (for once), Annemari held out the box towards Aldus. "Doya want one?"

Aldus smiled but declined, claiming he did not have a sweet tooth.

"Are they expensive? Grandfather always gives 'um to me." Annemari carefully selected a chocolate while she asked, and then ate it slowly while she waited for his response.

"I live off stuff I grow, like.. pumpkins or something." Aldus answered vaguely. Annemari swallowed her chocolate quickly, shoving the box back in her pack, before she exclaimed:

"Oh! I have a pumpkin patch!"

"Do you? I never took the time, I just grow them here and there, all not organized. . . I never had the patience."

"Well, if you just leave 'um and go away, they grow. It's like magic, 'cause you don't even hafta think about it." Also, Annemari thought, since her patch was next to her Mother's flower garden, she didn't even have to go back and water them.

"If I don't think about it, I'll forget where I left my pumpkins!" Aldus answered, with a wry grin.

"Really? You'd just forget?" Annemari studied Aldus. He didn't look very old except for his white hair. "You don't look so old." Annemari told him, thinking she was being rather generous with her evaluation.

"I get distracted by adventures." Aldus shrugged.

Adventures! Annemari instantly forgot about Aldus's age and quizzed him on his various adventures. Much to her dismay, they were nowhere near as exciting as her storybooks. Doesn't anyone have any good adventures with monsters and villains and heroes anymore? Annemari was disappointed. She longed for something exciting to happen.

After quizzing Aldus about his adventures, Annemarialana was sorely disappointed. "You just walk 'round in the jungle and that's an adventure? Really? Nothing happened?" Annemari asked eagerly.

"I met lots of bugs!" Aldus said with a hint of mock-enthusiasm, perhaps.

Annemari thought that this was not a very adventurous thing. In fact, she hopped that all of her future adventures would be entirely bug free. She crinkled her nose, expressing her disgust. Aldus tried to assure her that bugs were really quite harmless and not gross at all. However, Annemari was not to be convinced and even began to think there might be a bug crawling on her arm at that very moment. She rubbed her arm vigorously and Aldus asked her, with an amused grin, whether the antelope might also have been upset by her "crawling" all over it. Appalled at the suggestion, Annemari denied that she was at all bug-like and informed Aldus that Niestan trained the antelopes to have elfs ride them. It was only natural!

"Nah, you're too cute to be a bug." Aldus agreed, still grinning. Still suspecting an insult, Annemari glared at him until the words sank in. She blinked a few times and giggled.

"Really?" Annemari asked, then blushed and looked away quickly when Aldus nodded his agreement.

"Definitely. All the Shalonosts I've met are good looking, I think it runs in the family."

"I don't look like any of 'um." Annemari said suspiciously, eyeing him carefully. "You were just sayin' it!"

He tried to deny it, defending himself by saying that he had nothing to gain by it. After all, hadn't he already promised not to kiss her? He said he knew better than to try anything with a Shalonost, because they were "out of his league" (whatever that meant, Annemari didn't know). What Annemari did know, was that boys could be very, very sneaky and one was not to trust them.

Uncomfortable with Aldus's compliments, Annemarialana quickly changed the subject, asking which book he had taken. Considering that her Mother had required her to read a great deal of books, especially those on geography and history, Annemari considered herself somewhat of an expert on what the library had to offer. Therefore, she was a little surprised to find that he was taking a book she hadn't read. Of course, she could be excused, considering that she was not very interested in druidic lore.

"I needed help with my entangling." Aldus told her, by way of explanation.

"Your what?" Annemari questioned, baffled.

"Making vines grow. So that I can entangle people with them."

"Ooooh." Annemari cooed, impressed. "Does it work better than a web?" She asked, her mind going back to the incident only a few days ago, where a dark elf had escaped from Lucresa and herself, which had made Liathus quite cross with her.

"I dunno. I've never seen a druid use it." Aldus said after a moment of careful consideration.

"Well, 'cause Lucresa used a web on a stupid dark elf and it still got away."

"Lucresa?" Aldus wondered aloud. When Annemari only nodded, he continued, "She's a spider?"

"She's a witch!" Annemari giggled. "It's a magic web." Sometimes, boys could be so dumb, she thought secretly to herself. He didn't even know witches could make webs, or really anything they wanted to make. Lucresa made lots of fun things.

"My vines only work in the forest, so web might work better." Aldus finally concluded.

"Oh.. no. We were in Redferene's library, so that wouldn't have worked." Annemari sighed, disappointed. Next time she would trap a dark elf in the forest and bring a druid. "That's too bad," Annemari said wistfully, "I got in trouble 'cause it got away and made a fuss."

It suddenly dawned on her that Aldus might not be using entangle for catching dark elves. He told her that he'd use it to make a dwarf stay put, which confused her, as she couldn't think of any good reason for keeping a dwarf in the forest. As far as she knew, the goal was to get them out of the forest, or kill them.

"It's so I could cast some spells on him, and then beat him up," Aldus informed her, "so he never comes back."

"They always come back," Annemari said with a giggle, "They're too stupid to know better!"

"I suppose you're right . . ." Aldus nodded, "but still. . . if I give one a good whipping, he'll probably think twice when I'm around."

Annemari giggled again, thinking that Aldus was very brave. She thought he might almost be as brave as her Father and brother, though she wasn't certain yet. She knew enough to be certain that she wanted to find out more about him.

Their conversation eventually turned from Aldus's spell book to the things that Annemarialana had read and learned. Aldus wished to know how she'd learned to summon elementals. Evidently, he'd once known but had forgotten. This prompted Annemari to once again consider how old he must really be.

"No, I just forget things that don't really matter, I guess." Aldus assured her, smirking. "I have other things to help me out now. Animals. Mostly bears."

"Really? You don't turn into one, do you?" Annemari frowned, suddenly suspicious again. Aldus shook his head.

"I ain't no moose." He said.

"Are you friends with Ciana?" She pressed, still suspicious. She did not like that nasty shaman very much, no, not at all.

"She's my Regent, but I never talked to her." Aldus shrugged. Annemari relaxed, very much relieved. She hated to think she'd bee talking to the friend of that awful traitor this whole time. That was as bad as actually talking to Ciana!

"She's not nice at all." Annemari blurted out, once she was certain it was safe to do so.

"What'd she do?" Aldus asked.

"It wasn't very nice. . ." Annemari stalled. She was sure that Aldus would laugh, too. She didn't want to have to repeat it.

"Well, I figured that, if you're ticked at her."

Annemari only shrugged in response, looking down at the floor. Aldus shrugged also, saying, "Alright, if you don't wanna talk about it." There was an inviting lilt to his voice that made Annemari want to pour her heart out; yet, she was still afraid he would laugh. No, she knew he would laugh. She dared not tell.

Perhaps feeling a bit of unease at Annemarialana's obvious discomfort, Aldus's eyes flickered around the library. He voiced his wonder at whether he was keeping Annemari from anything important. A princess was probably busy a lot, or so he figured.

"You can go if you want." Annemari hedged, not wanting to commit herself either way. If he wanted to go, she certainly wasn't going to give him any satisfaction in knowing that she didn't want him to. On the other hand, she didn't want to seem too eager to make him go, either. She really wanted him to stay, it was awfully nice to have someone to talk to.

"I haven't got much better to do, and it's been nice actually talking to an elf." Aldus interrupted Annemari, reflecting her thoughts. He continued, "but I don't want to waste your time."

"You don't talk to other elves?" Annemari asked.

"Not often. I dunno. They always seem so busy wanting to do stuff, so I keep to myself."

"Everyone is always too busy!" Annemari exclaimed in enthusiastic agreement.

"I'm never busy. I just get distracted too easily." Aldus said with a faint nod. Annemari couldn't help giggling. He sometimes acted so old! "So, if you're ever looking for someone to just, you know . . . do nothing with, you should find me sometime." He offered softly.

"Like what kinda nothing?" Annemari watched him for an answer, suspecting more boyish sneakiness. She didn't believe a boy would only want to do nothing with a girl. From what Lucresa had said, they always wanted something, and it was her job to make sure he didn't take it from her!

"Like this, right now. Sitting here talking. That's nothing." Annemari relaxed, this was okay, he couldn't hurt her doing nothing, then. "Or roaming around the market by the river, that's nothing."

"Oooh.. Okay." Annemari giggled. "Do you like to climb trees?" Annemari asked idly.

"I dunno. I haven't done it since I was a little one." Aldus responded. Annemari watched him for a moment, trying to decide if he was suggesting she was still a little one. She hated people acting like she was a child.

Aldus wished to know why Annemarialana had asked about climbing trees. He didn't exactly see the connection between idle talking and climbing trees. Waiting patiently, he studied her while she answered.

"I feel out of a tree today and almost died!" Annemari exclaimed dramatically. "But it wasn't my fault," she continued quickly, "my cousin hit the tree real hard and it startled me!"

"So you don't climb trees anymore?" Aldus asked.

"Oh, I'll still climb trees, I'll just be carefuler when he's around and he's had a fight with his stupid fiance!" The words escaped Annemari's mouth almost with their own will and she was instantly sorry for it. She clamped her hands over her treacherous mouth to keep her traitorous tongue from revealing any other secrets. Annemari watched Aldus, horrified. Once she'd recovered, she managed to whisper, "but no one's supposed to know he has one."

"Has a fight?" Aldus seemed confused, probably wondering what had made this girl so strange.

"A fiance!" Annemari exclaimed and Aldus looked thoughtful. Without waiting for his response, she burst out saying, "please don't tell anyone, I'll do anything if you won't tell . . . please.. I'll be in so much trouble.."

"Well, I don't know who your cousin is, so I guess it's okay?" Aldus answered, managing to make it sound like a question at the same time. Annemari bit her bottom lip, still looking fearful, and didn't make any response. Aldus sighed, continuing, "stop it. I'm not here to abuse you. You're a Shalonost, I couldn't even think of it. A Kyorl would kill me in my sleep if I did."

Still, Annemari made no response, so Aldus added, "I won't tell nobody."

His promise elicited a bright smile from Annemari and all the fear in her eyes was gone. Of course the Kyorl would protect her, how could she have forgotten! She felt, at the same time, that with Aldus, she didn't need the Kyorl to protect her. He wouldn't do anything to hurt her.

Once more, the conversation turned to Ciana's offense against Annemarialana. With quiet and gentle tones, Aldus asked what Ciana had done, surprised at the girl's strong hatred towards the fellow elf, wild elf or no. Reluctantly, Annemari allowed the story to be drawn out of her. Sighing, keeping her eyes averted and her voice low, Annemari revealed what Ciana had done to make her so upset. Once she had said the word, Annemari tensed, waiting for Aldus to start laughing.

Aldus only raised an eyebrow and watched Annemari for a minute. "That it?" He said incredulously after a pause.

Annemari gave him a hateful look and remained quiet.

"You're a little tall is all, but when you grow up a little bit more, you'll make her jealous." He assured her in gentle tones. "You'll fill out nicely I think. Girls like you always do."

"Elves aren't 'sposta be tall" Annemari muttered, despairing over her height, which put her almost a head taller than most elves she'd met, and even more than that compared to some.

"The taller the better." Aldus disagreed.

Lowering her voice to a whisper, Annemari ignored Aldus and continued, "especially girls."

"So why do girls wear heels when trying to be pretty?" Aldus wondered aloud.

"Humans, maybe." Annemari conceded.

"I've seen elves," Aldus remarked with a grin, "they look good in them, too."

"My mom isn't tall, my sister isn't tall, no one is tall as me. . ." Annemari continued, whining "I stick ooooout." She wanted to be noticed for good things, not for stupid things like being taller than everyone else. She felt like people were staring, not because they admired her, but because they thought her strange. There was nothing more she hated than the feeling of all those elven eyes boring into her back and the images of them snickering behind their hands that the stares brought.

"You're always going to stick out," Aldus promised, "you're a princess." With his voice lowered slightly, Aldus continued, "and a good looking one at that."

Annemari gave Aldus a dark look and accused him of lying.

"What do I have to gain by lying?" Aldus asked innocently.

"Dunno, everybody lies to me." Annemari said out-loud, thinking internally that everybody except Lucresa lied to her.

"I'm not everybody. I'm just Aldus." He said as defense, shrugging.

"You have to be lying." Annemari insisted. How else could it be? She knew that no one else thought she was pretty. All the boys were always busy chasing Lucresa once they saw her, anyhow. Annemari scolded herself internally for such a thought, it wasn't like she wanted boys to chase her.. didn't she? No.. that'd just be trouble. Boys were sneaky and troublesome, she'd only get hurt.

"You should see Lucresa, then you won't think I'm pretty anymore." Annemarialana muttered, unable to keep the note of bitterness from her tone. She kept trying to convince herself that it didn't matter, 'cause she knew she was better than Lucresa, anyhow. What did it matter if she was prettier? Prettier only meant troublesome boys, and Annemari knew not to envy that!

"You're going to have to show her to me sometime." Aldus remarked. Annemari was sure she heard a bit of eagerness in his tone. She knew better than to be surprised.

"I dunno where she is." Annemari said with a shrug.

"I didn't mean now," Aldus smirked. "But, she's a witch?" Annemari confirmed his question with a nod and his smirk deepened. He continued, "She's half human. She's probably short."

Annemari nodded again, with an envious sigh. "And she has green eyes. . ."

"I can't even see your eyes, you keep them at the ground all the time."

"My eyes are stupid." Annemari assured Aldus.

"Let me see?" He pressed.

Annemari bit her lip as she looked up, warning Aldus, "if you laugh. . ." But Aldus didn't laugh, looking at her with his head slightly quirked to the side. His eyes, a perfect blue that Annemari so admired, gazed back at her and she felt like looking down, blushing, but she resisted. Her face was defiant, while his was plain and honest.

"At least yours are plain blue." Annemari complained.

Aldus shrugged, saying "Plain is dull."

"You think so?" Annemari asked, doubtful.

"Why would I want to look at something normal? I can see that anywhere."

Annemari couldn't control the blush creeping up her cheeks this time and she looked down quickly, chewing on her bottom lip. Aldus smiled at her.

"You really shouldn't worry." He encouraged.

"I know. I really don't care. . ." Annemari responded half-heartedly, trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince the boy across from her.

"So, why'd you want Ciana's tongue cut out?" Aldus asked, trying to sound nonchalant, which, considering the subject, was not easy to do. Annemarialana was caught off-guard by the sudden shift in topic and responded almost instantly with,

" 'cause Elhaym was gunna cut Lucresa's tongue out if she called me names anymore, it only seemed fair."

"What'd Lucresa call you?" Aldus inquired.

"A. . . uhmm. . . a brat, I think. It was a long time ago. But I told her that her spirits were stupid and she got mad. But she made me play this stupid game. . ." Annemari trailed off, shrugging. She felt the need to explain the circumstances but, as it was several years ago, she didn't quite remember it all herself. If Aldus was going to have a bad impression of Lucresa, it wasn't gunna be Annemari's fault, she was determined.

"I thought you and Lucresa were friends?"

"Oh, she's my very best friend!" Annemari gushed.

Aldus had a confused expression on his face but Annemari was too preoccupied to notice. She dropped her voice slightly, whispering, "only friend. . ." and glancing quickly at Aldus.

"So . . . why'd she call you a brat?" Aldus was still perplexed.

" 'cause we were littler and I called her stupid." Annemari admitted.

"Did she say it like she was going to hurt you?"

"Well. . . dunno. Father and Elhaym thought so. She looked awfully mad." Annemari giggled faintly at the memory, under her breath.

"Did Elhaym cut out her tongue?" Aldus asked her, though he obviously new the answer already.

"No. . ." Annemari hesitated, "but she said if Lucresa did it again she would!" Annemari had a feeling where Aldus's questions were going and she didn't want to admit it.

"Ciana only made fun of you once?" Aldus said after a moment of thought.

"Well. . . Yes. . ." Annemari muttered reluctantly. She really didn't like it.

Aldus looked thoughtful again, and then said "maybe Elhaym told her the same thing she told Lucresa? It seems to work."

"But Ciana didn't 'pologize!" Annemari grumbled, feeling triumphant. She didn't think it was fair that Ciana should just get away with it and have nothing bad happen to her. All Annemari was asking for was justice. . . she had a right to have justice.

"Did you ask Elhaym to get that for you, or just her tongue?" Aldus asked kindly, remaining patient.

"Uhmmm. . . Her tongue." Annemari suppressed a sigh.

"So," Aldus said after a moment, "how was Ciana sa'posed to know? You've been hiding in the woods, silly." Annemari knew that Aldus was perfectly right, which made her exceedingly upset. She scowled at him, her thoughts tumbling over one another, trying to think of a way out of admitting he was right. Since she couldn't win, she changed the subject.

"It isn't fair! I don't wanna be tall and skinny and I can't stop growing and I've tried and tried and tried and I eat all those horrible things that're 'sposa make you fat and short and it doesn't work!" Annemarialana burst out suddenly, reminded of all the things that weren't fair in the world.

"You want to be short and fat?" Aldus said with a smirk, trying to bring a bit of sense to the girl, but un-phased by her outburst. "It's the way Zandreya made you, and I think it's beautiful."

"You're lying again!" Annemari accused.

"What do I have to gain by lying?" Aldus reiterated, reminding her that he was "out of her league" and that he could no more lie to Annemari than he could to Elder Rhealana. Annemari sighed and frowned, deflated but not yet defeated.

"Why did Zandreya have to make me weird?" Annemari whined.

"She didn't make you weird. Just unique. I haven't seen an elf like you before." Aldus looked honest and genuine, which annoyed Annemari. She knew, just knew, he had to be lying. There wasn't any other explanation.

"That's the problem!" Annemari exclaimed.

"What? You want to look like me?" Aldus said with a smirk. The absurdity of the idea inspired a giggle out of Annemari, even though she knew she was supposed to still be angry. She scolded herself and regained her composure, at least what little of it she had.

"You're a boy!" Annemari informed Aldus.

"Yea, but I look pretty normal. What do you want to look like then? Lucresa?"

"No, she's a half elf." Again, the absurdity of that made Annemari giggle. "I want to look like Mother. . ." Annemari said, somewhat dreamily, after she got over her giggling fit.

"I've never met your mother."

"She's so pretty." Annemari said, envisioning Malorie's perfectly blond hair and perfectly baby-blue eyes. Malorie was petite and graceful, she had a delightful singing voice, and she was always so kind. Annemari sighed enviously, wishing she were better, as much at the things her Mother did well as her physical appearance.

"So, you look like her?" Aldus said softly, with a genuine smile. Annemari, completely missing the tone of his voice and thinking he must be an utter moron not to know that her mother was as beautiful as she was ugly, shook her head and touched the tips of her orangey hair ironically.